WHAT I DO

No getting around this one.

Here is the thing about First Ladies - THIS , the FLOTUS game is not what they do, at least not in modern times. SO today, this day is special. But this sort of is what Melania does. She is beautiful and she is arm candy. ( there are some QCV baubles in there somewhere, but really - this is what she does ) And as much as I wanted to come out and rip this .... I can not. She looks fantastic.

 A Ralph Lauren powder blue /  Robins egg blue cashmere shift dress with a matching ....somewhat cowl neck, fitted bolero jacket with three quarter sleeves. Combined with matching opera length wool gloves  ( I think they are wool... maybe leather, I can't tell )  and some very tall , a tad bridemaidy stiletto pumps.

There is no doubt that it is a beautiful day time dress / jacket combo, but the matchy matchy take it straight into Angela Kelly territory. THIS IS ROYAL DRESSING.... a crocodile shoe, a green glove.. something to tear this out of Queen Elizabeth's wheel house.

You KNOW there is no tension here ... but one of them is staying in NYC.

 My Queenly quibbles aside, it really was a most appropriate dress for the day.

 strangely it looks like the fit got a little wonky once the jacket came off.

Now, the internets , including the New York Times, went just bat shit off the shelf crazy comparing this to another First Lady on Inauguration Day. No. Well, and yes. Why Why Mrs. Trump after the whole stealing Michelles speech this past summer did you steal Jackie Kenndy's sleeve length and gloves. Yes, the outfit could be an homage to Mrs. Kennedy, color, etc - but this is a coat over a dress, fur lined at that - and I will never ever ever mention these two in the same sentence . So everyone was wrong.

That was the appetizer, this is dinner.

and I can not make up my mind.

From Womans Wear Daily

 A collaboration coup! According to the office of First Lady Melania Trump, her gown for tonight’s inaugural balls was “designed by Hervé Pierre and Melania Trump.”

“It’s an honor to dress the First Lady,” Pierre said in a statement. “I was actually lucky because over my 20 years in the U.S., I dressed all the first ladies: Mrs. Clinton at Oscar [de la Renta], Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Obama at Carolina Herrera. So I feel lucky and honored to dress Melania Trump, but this time under my name.”

The gown, in six-ply vanilla crepe, is cut off the shoulder with a full-length gazar arc opening into a deep side slit. A red silk faille ribbon fastens the waist.

Pierre worked at Carolina Herrera for 14 years, ultimately becoming creative director, before leaving last February.

The designer called the process of collaborating with Trump “organic.” He noted that she has a very strong personal style and she “doesn’t plan to change it because of her new function. So it was fun to respect her very tailored sense of fashion and to translate it in a gown. The lines are sharp, the design has no fuss and reflects Mrs. Trump’s vision of fashion and the way she feels in a gown.

 😱

 It is pretty. And lets face it , you can not really say that about some First Lady Gowns. It is a pretty dress, and I am working this out , right now as I type, but it is not enough.  That is my issue with it, and we are just talking the dress here.. well the dress and the occasion , and the fact that it will be in a glass box for all time. There is just not enough to it, like her husband it lacks gravitas . It is also the wrong season. Not the color, white is not unusual - just the etherealness of it. Pretty, but just not special enough to join the others in the Smithsonian.

 First one with a slit like that as well.

gross.